Birth Control

Victor setting off for work

At the time Victor began his practice in Saraya, the uneducated villagers had no concept of birth control. They believed children were a gift from God and HE would provide. Women would produce eight, ten and in one case sixteen children, making the physical condition of both mother and child extremely pitiable.For a devout Hindu family having a son was imperative, since besides being a source of income later on in  life, it was believed that only a male child could perform the last rites of his parents, granting their souls Moksha, which literally means release for the next cycle of reincarnation.

The local government Block Development Officer was trying to spread awareness about the use of contraceptives and he and Victor would go into the villages to talk with the male population, most of whom had no idea what a condom was. They would gather the men around and give a demonstration by digging an upright stick into the ground and then proceed to unfold the object on to the stick in the proper manner. All this was accompanied by a very detailed explanation, at the end of which Victor was gratified to see that the villagers seemed quite receptive to the idea of using this method of birth control.

Months later, Victor realised to his disappointment, that there was no difference in the pregnancy or birth rate.He spoke to some of the young men who claimed to be doing exactly what he had instructed, but that it was simply not working.He decided it would be a good idea to make another round of the area to find out was was going wrong.

On walking into the hamlet, Victor was confronted with the most amazing sight.Outside most of the huts was an upright stick dug into the ground with a carefully unrolled condom flopping around over the tip! That was what had been demonstrated, and that was what they were faithfully doing while carrying on the business of reproduction in the darkness of their shacks!

On another occasion a young couple arrived at the hospital claiming they had no children and needed help. While examining the pathetically weak and run down woman ,Victor could tell that this was definitely not the case. He demanded an explanation from her and she sorrowfully divulged "Hanji, panch beti hai par beta nahin".Yes I have five daughters but no son.

Victor was furious and immediately summoned the shameless husband into the examining room. Picking up a pair of lethal looking scissors, he threatened to cut off the body parts that had been responsible for this criminal behaviour. The terrified peasant ran screaming from the room with Victor in hot pursuit, brandishing the menacing weapon over his head, yelling in gruesome detail about what he would like to do with aforesaid body part. The panicked man took two rounds of the hospital complex with Victor galloping along behind him, before streaking off into the fields, leaving his dejected wife behind. He returned to fetch her only after making sure that Doctor Sahib had left the premises.